CHRISTMAS MOVIE COUNTDOWN #23: The Holiday

It was my mother that got me into The Holiday, after it came on TV around this time a couple of years ago. I was therefore younger at the time, and adamantly against romantic comedies. But unexpectedly, I loved it. I loved all of the characters, particularly the two women that the film centers around. I was also pleasantly surprised by the fact that the male love interests weren’t complete idiots.

The film is about Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz), who are both fed up of their unsuccessful love lives and, like the rest of us, hope that travelling somewhere different will change this. Although for them, it does. Iris switches her Christmassy cottage in England for Amanda’s incredibly expensive home in Los Angeles. Whilst there, they both meet two men from the other’s lives who, for a change, actually respect them.

The reason I love watching The Holiday around Christmas is for two reasons. The first is the fact that it would be anyone’s dream to live in Iris’ ‘quaint cottage in Surrey’ around Christmas, because it would be a challenge to find a more Wintery setting than that. The second is that it’s just a heart-warming film, which is something everyone needs around Christmas.

DOES IT PASS THE BECHDEL TEST??

Yes! There are many women, many conversations between them, and like I said already, Iris and Amanda are definitely two strong, well-written characters. The Holiday was also written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers, who was also behind The Parent Trap and It’s Complicated, which you should definitely see if you haven’t already. And even if none of the above were true, at the beginning of the film you Amanda punching her boyfriend in the face because he cheated on her. So yeah, it’s definitely worth your time.